The New York Times – Jal Mehta
“Getting a well-trained teacher in every classroom is a generation-long project. It would require new approaches to training, higher entry standards and substantial opportunities for continued learning within the profession, including occasions for master teachers to mentor new ones. How could we achieve this transformation? A good first step would be to raise standards for teacher licensure and simultaneously radically revamp teacher training over the first three years. Teacher tenure, now generally acquired after three years, would not be automatic: It would be more equivalent to making partner at a law firm or getting tenure at a university. The required assessment for tenure would not be a paper and pencil test, but a demonstration of actual teaching skill.”(more)